History, Opinions, Imaginings

Ch-ch-changes

The two championship runs of the Lombardi Packers were marked by a very efficient turnover of personnel on the defensive side of the ball. On the defensive line, Willie Davis and Henry Jordan were both fixtures for all five titles, but the 1961-62 pair of Dave Hanner and Bill Quinlan were supplanted by fresh faces Ron Kostelnik and Lionel Aldridge for the 1965-67 threepeat. Aldridge was an improvement over Quinlan at end, while Kostelnik was a pretty close replica of Hawg at tackle.

The early linebacking corps that was dubbed the best in football featured Dan Currie on the strong side and Bill Forester on the weak side, with Ray Nitschke in the middle. Again, the replacements brought youth and talent to surround the holdover Hall of Famer Nitschke . Hall of Famer Dave Robinson improved on Pro Bowler Currie, while Lee Roy Caffey replaced the crafty Forester with power and speed.

In the secondary, improvements began in 1962 when Herb Adderley took over at corner, leading to corner Hank Gremminger pushing Johnny Symank out at strong safety. Corner Jesse Whittenton and safety Willie Wood remained in place. For the second run, Bob Jeter replaced Whittenton and Tom Brown supplanted Gremminger. Jeter was at least Whittenton’s equal, although Brown was not as strong as Gremminger.